Marking fowl or the like



Feb. 20, 1962 H. SWETT, JR

MARKING FOWL OR THE LIKE Filed Feb. 17, 1959 3,021,630 MARKING FOWL RTPE LHiE Arthur H. Swett, Jr., Butler, N.J., assignor to American TagCompany, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Filed Feb. 17, 1959,Ser. No. 793,712 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-21) This invention is directed tomarking and identifying fowl or the like, such as dressed poultry. Inrecent years an increasing amount of fowl has been dressed for market incentral processing plants operating with constantly moving overheadconveyor lines. These conveyor lines carry shackles from which the birdsare suspended either by the feet or by the neck as they are carriedthrough automatic machines for feather removal and the like and pastoperators who perform manual operations on them.

Very often it is desired to mark the fowl in some fashion, so as toidentify it by brand name or to certify that it has passed U.S.Government inspection or the like. At the present time, this isaccomplished either by a printed paper tag which is secured to the birdby means of a metal clip or a string, or by a metal clip having printedcopy directly thereon. These methods have the disadvanta e that theymust be attached by hand which is time consuming and expensive. Theyhave the further disadvantage that they are sometimes dislodged. Thetags themselves are also relatively expensive and difiicult to handle,particularly in a mass processing operation.

This invention and the principal object thereof are directed to markingfowl or the like in such a manner as to overcome the aforementioneddifficulties. In accordance with this invention, a tough,moisture-resistant, elongated paper like label strip, having a heatscalable thermoplastic coating on one side thereof, is utilized formarking the fowl or the like. The intermediate portion of the labelstrip encircles a limb of the fowl, such as the wing or the leg, and theend portions of the label strip are face abutted and heat sealedtogether for firmly securing the label to the fowl. The exposed side ofthe label is preferably provided with appropriate printed copy formarking and identification purposes.

To dislodge such a label so secured to the fowl is virtually impossibleand, as a result, foolproof marking of the fowl is assured. Further,when the label is removed, it must be torn or destroyed, so that itcannot be reused in an unauthorized manner. A further advantage of theinstant label is that it is considerably less expensive than thecurrently used marking tags, in that no metal or string is required, andpaper stock of materially reduced thickness may be employed withsuperior results. A further cost saving is also realized in that theinstant label is adapted to be produced by methods inherently muchfaster and more economical than those involved in manufacturing stringtags, or tags with metal clip attaching devices, or metal clips carryingprinted copy thereon.

The attaching of the instant label strips to the fowl by heat sealingthe same is simple and foolproof and is considerably faster and lessexpensive than by the present ractice of fastening tags to the fowl bystrings or metal clips or the like. The heat sealing of the instantlabels to the limbs of the fowl may be readily accomplishedautomatically, and this is of particular importance in connection withmass processing of the fowl, since considerable saving in labor expenseis thereby afiorded.

Preferably, the intermediate portion of the label strip is narrow sothat it may snugly encircle and fit the limb of the fowl and preventdislodgment, and the end portions of the label strip, which are heatsealed together, are wide so as to provide a large heat seal area forstrength, and a large exposed area for the printed marking andidentification copy. The wide and narrow portions of 3,il2l,539 PatentedFeb. 20, 1962 2 the label strips also have utility in automaticallyfeeding and registering the label strips and the web constituting suchlabel strips in an apparatus for automatically applying the labels tothe fowl or the like.

The label may be applied to a limb of the fowl by releasably suspendingthe label strip at its end portions, moving and engaging the limb of thefowl with the intermediate portion of the label strip so as to encirclethe intermediate portion of the label strip about the limb of the fowland to release the label strip and face abut the heat scalablethermoplastic coated end portions of the label strip, and heat sealingtogether the face abutted end portions of the label strip to secure thelabel to the limb of the fowl.

An object of this invention is to provide a label, having the foregoingfeatures, characteristics and advantages, for marking fowl or the like.

The method of quantity marking fowl or the like, which are suspended byshackles from a continuously moving conveyor for mass processing, and anapparatus for automatically so marking the fowl or the like, are alsodisclosed in, and claimed in, application Ser. No. 793,713, filedFebruary 17, 1959, by Edward C. Marshall.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art upon reference to the accompanyingspecification, claims and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the label strip utilized in accordance withthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the label strip;

FIG. 3 is a view of a fowl, such as a completely dressed chicken, havingthe label applied to the limb of the chicken, such as the wing;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of fowl or the like which are suspended byshackles from a continuously moving conveyor for mass processingthereof, along with an apparatus which may be utilized for automaticallymarking the fowl as they continuously pass thereby.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 4, the label strip of this invention isgenerally designated at 10. The label strip 10 is a paper like strip,and it may be severed from the end of a paper like web 11, which may behandled in roll form. The paper like web is provided with alternatenarrow portions 13 and wide portions 1-4, and the label strips 10 aresevered through the wide portions from the web 11, so as to provide thelabel strip 10 with a narrow intermediate portion 13 and wide endportions 14. The paper like label strip, shown at 12 in FIG. 2, ispreferably made from paper, although plastic films and the like may beused, and such are contemplated in the term paper like label strip. Inthe case of paper, it may be given a wet-strength impregnation in anyconventional manner. One side of the paper like strip 12 is providedwith a relatively thin layer 15 of heat scalable thermoplastic material,this layer being coated thereon in conventional fashion. At least theend portions of the label strip are so coated and, preferably, theentire side of the label strip is coated, inasmuch as it is lessexpensive to do so. The heat scalable thermoplastic coating 15 is forthe purpose of imparting heat sealing ability to the label strip. Theother side of the label strip may be provided with suitable printed copy17 for marking and identification purposes, and that side of the labelstrip may also be given a moisture-barrier treatment 16 in usual fashionto prevent curling of the label strip due to moisture absorption.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the narrow intermediate portion 13 of thelabel strip is encircled about a limb 18, such as a wing, of a chicken19, and the wide end portions 14 of the label strip are face abuttedwith the thermoplastic coating thereon adjacent to each other and heatsealed together for firmly securing the label strip to the fowl. Onemanner of accomplishing this attachment of the label strip to the wingof the fowl is shown in more detail in FIG. 4. There the label strip issuspended adjacent its ends and the limb 1'3 of the fowl is moved andengaged with the narrow intermediate portion 13 of the label strip. As aresult, the narrow intermediate portion 13 of the label strip isencircled about the limb 18, and the wide thermoplastic coated endportions 14 are face abutted and heat sealed together. While theapplication and the heat sealing of the label strip to the limb of thefowl may be manually accomplished, it is admirably suited for automaticaccomplishment, as by the marking apparatus disclosed herein, and suchautomatic applcation of the labels to the fowl finds particular utilityin connection with mass processing of the fowl. In such mass processing,the fowl or poultry 19 is suspended by shackles 20, as shown in FIG. 4,the shackles 20 being conventional and being carried by chains 21 which,in turn, are carried by rollers 22 operating in a conventional channel23 which, in turn, is provided with a moving chain 24- for continuouslymoving the fowl. When the chickens are so suspended in the shackles 26by their feet, their wings flop downwardly so as to make themconveniently accessible for the application of the label strips thereto.

The label strips may be automatically applied to the wings of thechickens by a marking apparatus, generally designated at 25 in FIG. 4,which is arranged in the path of the wings of the poultry being conveyedby the continuously operating conveyor.

The marking apparatus 25 includes a base 26 supporting the markingequipment arranged within a casing or housing 4%. Adjacent its top, thehousing is provided with a transverse slot 42 through which the poultrywings 18 pass, and it is also provided with a large offset 41 to makespace for facilitating the guiding of the chicken wings with respect tothe marking apparatus. The label strips 13, 14 are fed from a roll ofsuch strips through the marking apparatus by means of rolls whichcooperate with the wide portions 14 of the label strips for accuratelyautomatically feeding and registering the label strips. The end labelstrip is severed and vertically releasably suspended at its ends acrossthe transverse slot 42, and, as a wing 18 passes through the slot, it isencircled by the label strip. A pair of heated platens adjacent the slot42 heat seal the ends of the label strip together for firmly securingthe label strip to the wing, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

While for purposes of illustration, one form of the label and thelabeled fowl of this invention have been disclosed and one manner ofapplying the label to the fowl has been disclosed, other forms andmanners may become apparent to those skilled in the art upon referenceof this disclosure and, therefore, this invention should be limited onlyby the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A label for marking fowl or the like comprising, an elongated paperstrip having an intermediate portion for encircling a limb of the fowl,and end portions for extending in face abutting relation away from thelimb of the fowl encircled by the intermediate portion, a heat scalablethermoplastic coating on at least the end portions of the side of thestrip which face abut each other for heat sealing the strip in place onthe limb of the fowl, printed copy on the other side of the strip whichis exposed to view when the strip is applied to the limb of the fowl,and a moisture-barrier coating on the print ed side of the strip toprevent moisture absorption and curling.

2. A label for marking fowl or the like comprising,

an elongated paper strip having a narrow intermediate portion forencircling a limb of the fowl, and wide end portions for extending inface abutting relation away from the limb of the fowl encircled by thenarrow intermed'ate portion, a heat sealable thermoplastic coating on atleast the wide end portions of the side of the strip which face abuteach other for heat sealing the strip in place on the limb of the fowl,printed copy on at least the wide end portions of the other side of thestrip which is exposed to view when the strip is appl'ed to the limb ofthe fowl, and a moisture-barrier coating on the printed side of thestrip to prevent moisture absorp tion and curling.

References fired in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,806,142 Beck May 19, 1931 1,827,761 Muller Oct. 20, 1931 1,932,658Goodfriend Oct. 31, 1933 2,098,164 Rice Nov. 2, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS29,361 Great Britain Dec. 24, 1906

